Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Naked Jesus

Home
Progressive Christian
Proclaiming Christ With Your Mouth, While Waving a Gun – Not a Good Thing.

Proclaiming Christ With Your Mouth, While Waving a Gun – Not a Good Thing.

Last updated on: July 22, 2016 at 12:00 pm by John O'Keefe

Proclaiming Christ With Your Mouth, While Waving a Gun – Not a Good Thing. 2016-07-22T12:00:27-05:00 John O'Keefe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I strive hard to remove negative influences from my life. Because of this, I’m not in the loop of watching hatefilled preachers and their venom spewing videos. For that reason, I tend to be a bit behind the times when they voice their hatred on social media. Now, and I’m not sure it is a good thing, but I have conservative followers who, for whatever reason they have, believe it’s their mission to remind me how wrong I am concerning my theological positions. Recently, I posted about the Black Lives Matter conversation, and this did not sit well with some, and one person took it upon themselves to show me how wrong BLM is, by messaging me a video of pure hate. In his message, he told me that this person on the video was a true man of God, and I was not – which, when I think about it, I’m good with that – because, if he is a true man of God, I am glad I’m not.

I’m not sure if you have ever seen a video by this guy making its rounds on Social Media, and I wrestle with the idea of sharing it with you – because I believe that kind of hate should not be placed into the universe. His name is Josh Feuerstein. He claims to be a Pastor, ‘Love Jesus,’ and I have major doubts concerning both points; MAJOR DOUBTS. He rides the waves of hate sent out by people like those from Westboro Baptist. Yeah, this guy is not even close to being a follower of Christ, or a Pastor. His latest addition to the dialog of hate his followers feed upon speaks of revenge, violence, killing, and hatred – qualities that are nowhere in the teachings of Christ.

Let me say this, taking the live of anyone is wrong – police, innocent black teens, anyone. I don’t care who it is, we should strive to find other ways to deal with situations that do not involve taking a life. But the part that disturbs me is any call for violence, and if it comes from a self-proclaimed “good Christians” to take up arms, and encourage violence, is wrong beyond measure. Anyone holding up a hand gun, proclaiming ‘I Love Jesus’ while shouting you’re willing to unloaded “20 rounds of pure brutality” into the life of another is not even close to loving Jesus, or anyone for that matter. If, for whatever reason, you believe he is proclaiming the Good News of Christ, please show me where Jesus speaks or brutality, retaliation, or violence to anyone, for any reason. For me, proclaiming Christ with your mouth, while waiving a gun is not a good thing – and sends the wrong message of Christ.

He asks, “You want to know what the problem is…” to which I answer yes, I do. It’s hearing people like him, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ from one side of your mouth, while proclaiming a Bad News of the World out of the other. You cannot speak of love, while proclaiming violence.

Previous Post

July 19, 2016

Be A Voice For Change

Next Post

July 22, 2016 What About Domestic Violence and Oppression of the LGBTQ Community?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abuse bad Bad Theology Blue Christian Karma Christmas Church Clinton Coming Out Day Cruz Dance Dangerous Church Discrimination Disruptive Faith disruptive peace Disrutive Church Doctrine Dominionism Evangelism Faith Fun good grace Hell Hillary Inclusive Justice Keller Leadership love Messy Church Missional New Parable Open Peace Play Politics Prayer Progressive racism random Safe Church Sessions Story Theology Trump truth Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2019 December 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 December 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, 'Let my people go'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Joshua Aaron Elijah